


A study in bonds

by Sugarberry_and_tea



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Found Family, Gen, IPRE Crew | Starblaster Crew as Family, Istus does her job, Kinda, Spoilers for Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, That’s mostly it, she thinks about the 7 birds and does some knitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarberry_and_tea/pseuds/Sugarberry_and_tea
Summary: As a goddess of fate Istus is very familiar with bonds and their workings.  She muses about the bonds of a certain group of adventurers as she weaves her tapestry of fate.
Relationships: Background Taako/Kravitz - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	A study in bonds

If anyone was an expert on bonds, it was Istus. As a goddess of fate she dealt with bonds in just about everything she did. Her knitting was rife with bonds, a swirling overlap of colors, strands twined and pulled and arranged just right. It was confusing, the way the threads shaped the story of the world, and yet there was also a sort of order to it. Istus saw that order and guided it, did not force it, but moved it along, knitted it into fate itself. 

She was of the first to notice seven new people enter this world. People entering this world was not uncommon, new souls were born every day and she dutifully knitted their lives into her rich tapestry. What was strange about these souls were the bonds they already carried. Clumsy, cluttered things, connecting them to hundred of other people, some of whom she noticed did not reside on this plane. It was peculiar and instantly snatched her notice. New comers to this world usually had few bonds. To their parents usually, sometimes to a womb-mate if they were twins. There was a set of twins she noticed, recognizing the bonds that connected the two. But there was more than that. There was a family, and they were not from here. 

She didn’t mind, it wasn’t her job to regulate travelers from other planes. Her job was to manage fate, to weave the tapestry of it and that’s what she intended to do. So she got to work knitting the bonds of these newcomers into her work. She started simple, the twins. Their history and fate woven so tightly together. Their lives shared and entwined the way siblings do. From there it got complicated. Their bonds with the others were different. They were old and had progressed so far, to the point of family. It was beautiful, no doubt about that. But she was never one to cut corners. She needed the full story of their bonds, the way they progressed. She couldn’t just weave them in as is, she’d be leaving out so much of the sevens shared history. 

She was a goddess of fate, she couldn’t see the past. She couldn’t see what these seven had been through though she knew it had been hard. Knew it would continue being hard for them for years to come. She shed a single tear, they had already been through so much hardship, and it wouldn’t end just yet. She was a goddess of fate, she didn’t control it, didn’t even know exactly how things could happen. She saw multiple endings, so many bad for this family. But between that bad she saw the good, it was indisputable, no matter what they did, they would be amazing. And maybe they didn’t know that just yet but if she ever got the chance to meet them she’d be sure to tell them. She had a feeling she would, she thought with a smile. 

Though she couldn’t see their past she could see the change in their bonds. The way they went from simple coworkers, to friends, to family. The way a coworker could turn to a brother or sister in the pass of time. The way a friend could turn to a lover over the years. It was a beautiful thing, the weave of their love for each other, the way their bonds overlapped and swirled together making a stunning knit. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before, the hardships they’d face only bringing them closer. 

She watched in idle curiosity as the family worked here on this plane, seeing disagreements that caused small rifts between them. Nothing worrying, families fight after all. 

Things started to go bad after that, she sensed distance growing between them. Saw a woman lost and alone, saw her brother and love desperately search for her. Saw the rift her absence caused in the family. They each played a part in keeping the family together, and the loss of even just one of them tore them apart. Saw the way the bother and lover drifted from each other, saw the way the rest tried to scramble to keep the family afloat. Saw the self imposed distance the journal-keeper took from her family. Istus could only watch as it got worse, as bonds were forgotten. Lives were erased, history unwritten. Saw the way the bonds were torn from each other, never broken, only forgotten. Saw the sorrow and grief and guilt that colored the bonds of the journal-keeper, saw the indifference in the bonds of the others. 

A thing about bonds is that they never break, they never fully erase. You may not fully remember a friend from your childhood but the bond with them remains. It changes with time, changing from a bond with a friend to a bond with someone you used to know. Bonds change with time, a sister turns into an enemy, a friend into a lover, an enemy to a friend, a rival to a partner. Bonds change, but they are never fully gone. Istus knew that while some of the bonds were forgotten at the moment then still remained. An emptiness in the hearts of those who held them. She watched as for years the travelers went one, bonds for each other forgotten. Save for the journal-keeper, the lover and one of the twins. 

She saw as the journal-keeper built new bonds, never once as strong or as deep as the ones she erased. Saw as she made partnerships and recruited workers. Yet never once in all the years did she make a friend. She made the choice to stay alone. Her bonds were tinged in sadness and guilt. Remembering them only made them stronger, and with it made the guilt of them stronger as well. It was pitiful, sorrowful, and there was nothing to be done about it. The weave of her bonds had a pattern, always spiraling the same, always alone. 

She saw the lover stumble through, flicking between knowing and forgetting his bonds. The times he remembered were messy, tinged with anger and grief and fear. The times he didn’t were indifferent, the bonds of someone who thinks they’re alone with no one to care about. He too makes no friends in this time, hardly makes himself aquatinted at all. He makes an enemy though, she weaves the threads of a reaper through his bonds. A child of the Raven Queen she notes, a reaper on the hunt to upkeep the balance of life and death . His bonds stay the same for nearly ten years, unchanging until he meets three adventures, unfamiliar to him in the moment. She weaves the threads of three members of his family through his, and for a brief moment the three are reunited again. By the end his threads are a jumbled disorganized mess, yet still just as beautiful as any other. 

The one twin’s bonds stayed the same, unchanging for years. Her faith and love for her family standing the rest of time. In the end her bonds were a steady weave of love and trust. 

The other twin though had forgotten his family. The bonds still remained and he felt their loss, felt the missing family members though he didn’t know why. The lost memory of his twin hit harder, they’d always had each other after all. He was constantly missing her, reaching out for a person he didn’t know. He kept people at an arms length, never letting anyone get close. One tried, and that bond ended in hate and envy, a companionship turned enemy. Istus wove his fate, seeing the lonely threads of this man repel all that tried to get close, that is until he took a certain job, but there’d be more about that later. His bonds were a spiraling twist of emptiness and anger. 

She watched as another man built himself a life in the town where he’d landed, fitting perfectly in with the people there. Saw as he fell in love and created a home for himself. He still felt the missing bonds of the rest of his family but they were easy to overlook with the joy and love from the life he’d found himself in. Istus watched as the man made an enemy, gathered an army and won a war. Weaved the bonds that came from the victory into her every growing tapestry. She watched as the enemy returned and the mans wife fell victim to him. Watched as the bonds of love turned to grief and his hatred for the one who’d done this to him grew. She watched as he wandered through life after that, his choices and actions all leading him to a certain job, and part of his forgotten family. The weave of his bonds was mesmerizing, the strands of love and passion shifting their way into those of grief and hatred. 

The third man too found a life in the home he’d been place. She watched as he got married, though not to someone he truly loved. Watched as his family grew and his marriage fell apart. Knitted the distance between him and his family as he set out on his own, wandering around until he too met up with the others. His weave was a steady line of broken promises and distance. 

The final member of the family was different, his bonds never fully faded. He still felt connection to the journal-keeper. His mind was messy and tangled, as were the bonds he maintained. They were a swirling mess of overlapping and tangled threads, hardly being held together much like the man they were connected to. 

As she knitted together the threads a new story came to be, new bonds were formed. Three comrades became friends. An old friends became like an enemy, another a boss. The bonds were messy now, they’d already had bonds with each other, much stronger ones than what they were forming now. The new bonds were hesitant, overlapping and tangling with the old ones. It was unlike anything Istus had ever seen before, they were separate things and yet they were so heavily entwined that some of the feelings from the old bonds must have been making their way through. She watched and knitted away as the three traveled around making enemies and friends alike. 

She watched with a bit of bemused curiosity as the reaper from earlier got woven into the knit, going from a rival to a lover in record time. She watched as the feelings for a certain little boy changed from being just a friend to being a mentor and confidant. She watched as new bonds bloomed and grew and as old ones were rekindled. She watched as the fighter make friends and grew bonds with other members of the moon base, watched as the cleric came back into the lives of his children. 

During this time she was able to meet them, as she’d once had a hunch she would. She was able to bestow upon them her gifts and her praise.

“You’re going to be amazing” 

She watched as the new bonds they’d formed with each other grew strong, as their distrust for their boss grew and later on she watched as the memories of the old bonds were returned. 

She watched as the new bonds and old bonds were solidified into one, a tangled reminder of what had happened to them. Watched as bonds of love turned to sorrow and hate. Watched as a family was reunited and an enemy finally beaten. Watched as the gifts she’d given were finally able to help them. And a forgotten war was won. 

She watched more as the dust from the battle cleared and the team once more had to face each other as a family. As they dealt with the feelings of betrayal and anger. As said before, bonds can never be broken. They can change over time but they are complicated things that do not exist in only black and white. The bond between teacher and student can easily change to that of a father and son. And the hatred and rage targeted towards one who was once deemed family doesn’t destroy the preexisting bond. 

Bonds are not stagnant things, with time they will change. Perhaps they will change for the better and trust will be rekindled and wrongs forgiven, perhaps they won’t. Only time will tell. And this family has plenty of that with no need to run anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in one go as a writing exercise, I didn’t intend to post it but really liked it and wanted to share it!


End file.
